It's definitely a great book, especially if you are a fan of Luke, Han, and Leia._________________"But it was so artistically done."

“No. I am Ganner. This threshold is mine. I claim it for my own. Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don’t give a damn. None shall pass.”

"Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it."

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:12 pm

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Caedus_16Master

Joined: 15 Apr 2008Posts: 4770Location: Korriban

Continue to color me intrigued._________________Perfection is a lifelong pursuit requiring sacrifice. The only way to get it quicker is to sacrifice the most.

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:32 pm

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Darth_HenningMaster

Joined: 12 Apr 2011Posts: 534Location: Canada

I've noticed this book getting a lot of heat on JCF and other places.

However, having just finished it myself, I can honestly say that its not the best Star Wars book ever written, and the ending/climactic battle was a little too rushed, but overall its an enjoyable read similar to many of the later Bantum era novels.

Its not galaxy spanning, but it sets things up well for a transition to a new EU where the younger generation takes the front seat, and the old heros are still around, but not on the center stage anymore.

The one critique that I do agree with is that it basically leaves us in the same place that the end of the NJO did, and I worry that it may be ignored as easily as that was in future works. (If there actually are any for the EU after the Disney deal).

If not, it leaves a lot of open ends unquestionably for fans to debate endlessly, but it does nicely tie up the story of the Big 3 (and Lando) to close out what started with the original 3 movies.

Personally though, I truely hope that its a springboard to all that will come after rather than an unexpected conclusion._________________

Darth Skuldren wrote:

Yes, we're still at the mercy of Darth_Henning

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:20 pm

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CerrineaMaster

Joined: 09 Jun 2009Posts: 1491

My feeling is if you like Denning books, you'll like Crucible. As for some of the heat Crucible is getting, I've found the reviewers that don't seem to have any particular agenda going seem to be able to judge the book on its own merits.

Also, Del Rey did plan on retiring the Big Three with the closeout of NJO. However, Shelly Shapiro stated there was a big fan outcry over it so they had to go in a different direction. The direction wasn't necessarily bad, but there were some execution issues, particularly with LOTF._________________Roqoo Depot co-founder.

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:10 pm

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Darth_HenningMaster

Joined: 12 Apr 2011Posts: 534Location: Canada

Cerrinea wrote:

Also, Del Rey did plan on retiring the Big Three with the closeout of NJO. However, Shelly Shapiro stated there was a big fan outcry over it so they had to go in a different direction. The direction wasn't necessarily bad, but there were some execution issues, particularly with LOTF.

They did alright in LOTF for moving things towards more junior characters at least in the beginning. There was Allana, Ben, Allema, Jason and Jaina and to a lesser degree Jag and Zekk taking on bigger roles. While the B3 were still featured fairly prominently they were taking more of a back seat. It was poorly executed in some ways, but the overall arch for that was a step in the right direction.

I find that FOTJ is the one where things started moving way back towards the B3, which lost a lot of potential development.

I hope to see more of a lot of characters if (and hopefully when) the EU continues.

Admittedly a lot of those have only minimal details so far, but its a great starting cast. And more diverse than the original._________________

Darth Skuldren wrote:

Yes, we're still at the mercy of Darth_Henning

Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:33 pm

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Ewok_SlayerPadawan

Joined: 19 Jul 2013Posts: 2

I heard a lot of bad things about the book, but I decided to buy it anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. There was a lot of action and the pace was good. It took me weeks to finish Scoundrels and Mercy Kill (and I liked those books), but this novel I read in a couple days. It really held my interest.

Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:21 pm

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ReepicheepMaster

Joined: 05 Feb 2008Posts: 6956Location: Sailing into the unknown

I finished today:

Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)

I though Crucible had a strong start and a strong finishe, but I didn't enjoy the middle as much.

I'll get my gripe out of the way: I don't like Denning's writing. It's way too action driven, to the point of being boring. After a while all of the "Luke Force shoved so-and-so" or "Han fired at so-and-so" got really repetitive and I found myslef zoning out a lot towards the end. It took up the majority of the book. Another odd thing about the way he writes is the unusual amount of pain he puts his characters through. Characters get fragged to within an inch of their life, recover, only to get fragged again. It seems... I don't know... sadomasochistic or something. I remember having similar feelings about Apocalypse. But, hey, gotta love galactic medicine! ...Which reminds me, the Big 3 got beat up nearly as badly as Anakin when he caught fire in RotS, yet they didn't need Vader suits or anything else as drastic. Of course, that was decades ago in the timeline, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that long ago.

Anyway. Rant over.

I liked how Denning wrote the Big 3 with more wisdom than usual. Many times I could picture them rolling their eyes at the young folks.

I think a lot of my initial enthusiasim for the book was simply the feeling that it's good to be back. It was good to be back in-universe, seeing old familiar faces again etc. Even if I have significant gripes with Dennings writing, I still really enjoyed myself with Crucible.

I wasn't really surprised by the ending, but it was still bittersweet... especially for us. This really could be the end.

_________________
Where sky and water meet,
Where the waves grow sweet,
Doubt not, Reepicheep,
To find all you seek,
There is the utter east.